Standard Lemma guide

auto-

prefix · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɔː.tə-/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɔː.təʊ-/
  • General-American: /ˈɔ.tə-/
  • General-American: [ˈɔ.ɾə-]
  • General-American: /ˈɔ.toʊ-/
  • General-American: [ˈɔ.ɾoʊ-]
  • Atlantic-Canada, General-American, cot-caught-merger: /ˈɑ.tə-/
  • Atlantic-Canada, General-American, cot-caught-merger: [ˈɑ.ɾə-]
  • Atlantic-Canada, General-American, cot-caught-merger: /ˈɑ.toʊ-/
  • Atlantic-Canada, General-American, cot-caught-merger: [ˈɑ.ɾoʊ-]
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

prefix

Meaning 1

Reflexive, regarding or to oneself.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

Examples

  • auto- + biography → autobiography
  • auto- + erotic → autoerotic

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

prefix

Meaning 2

automatic

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

Examples

  • auto- + focus → autofocus
  • auto- + loader → autoloader
  • auto- + walk → autowalk

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

prefix

Meaning 3

Self-propelled.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

Examples

  • auto- + cab → autocab
  • auto- + car → autocar

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

prefix

Meaning 4

Relating to cars or the driving of cars.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: morpheme

Examples

  • auto- + cross → autocross
  • auto- + -phile → autophile

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h2ewder.? Proto-Indo-European *sóder.? Proto-Indo-European *h2ewder. Ancient Greek αὖ (aû) Ancient Greek τόν (tón)? Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós) Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-)lbor. English auto- Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-, “self-”).

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h2ewder.? Proto-Indo-European *sóder.? Proto-Indo-European *h2ewder. Ancient Greek αὖ (aû) Ancient Greek τόν (tón)? Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós) Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-) Proto-Indo-European *men- Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *mn̥tós Proto-Hellenic *mətós Ancient Greek αὐτόμᾰτος (autómătos) Ancient Greek αὐτόμᾰτον (autómăton)der. Classical Latin automatum New Latin automaticusbor. English automaticclip. English auto- Clipping of automatic.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h2ewder.? Proto-Indo-European *sóder.? Proto-Indo-European *h2ewder. Ancient Greek αὖ (aû) Ancient Greek τόν (tón)? Ancient Greek αὐτός (autós) Ancient Greek αὐτο- (auto-)lbor. French auto- Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh1- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *m(y)owh1éyetider. Proto-Italic *moweō Latin moveō Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dhlom Proto-Indo-European *-dhlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin mōbilislbor. French mobile French automobilebor. English automobileclip. English auto- Clipping of automobile (“self-propelled”), itself equivalent to auto- (“self”) + mobile. In later formations influenced by auto (“automobile”).

Across languages

Translations

107 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: outo- — regarding oneself
  • Albanian: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Aragonese: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Armenian: ինքն (inkʻn) — regarding oneself
  • Armenian: ավտո- (avto-) — regarding oneself
  • Asturian: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Azerbaijani: avto- — regarding oneself
  • Basque: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Belarusian: аўта- (awta-) — regarding oneself
  • Bulgarian: авто- (avto-) — regarding oneself
  • Catalan: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Czech: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Danish: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Danish: selv- — regarding oneself
  • Dutch: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Esperanto: aŭto- — regarding oneself
  • Estonian: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Finnish: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Finnish: itse- — regarding oneself
  • Finnish: oma- — regarding oneself
  • French: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Galician: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Georgian: ავტო- (avṭo-) — regarding oneself
  • German: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Greek: αυτο- (afto-) — regarding oneself
  • Ancient Greek: αὐτό- (autó-) — regarding oneself
  • Hebrew: אוֹטוֹ־ (oto-) — regarding oneself
  • Hindi: आत्म (ātma) — regarding oneself
  • Hungarian: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Ido: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Indonesian: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Indonesian: swa- — regarding oneself
  • Interlingua: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Italian: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Kazakh: авто- (avto-) — regarding oneself
  • Northern Kurdish: oto- — regarding oneself
  • Kyrgyz: авто- (avto-) — regarding oneself
  • Latin: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Latvian: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Lithuanian: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Macedonian: авто- (avto-) — regarding oneself
  • Malay: swa- — regarding oneself
  • Maltese: awto- — regarding oneself
  • Norwegian Bokmål: selv- — regarding oneself
  • Norwegian Bokmål: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Occitan: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Persian: اتو (oto-) — regarding oneself
  • Persian: خود (xod-) — regarding oneself
  • Polish: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Polish: samo- — regarding oneself
  • Portuguese: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Romanian: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Romanian: ауто- (auto-) — regarding oneself
  • Russian: авто- (avto-) — regarding oneself
  • Russian: само- (samo-) — regarding oneself
  • Russian: себе- (sebe-) — regarding oneself
  • Serbo-Croatian: ауто- — regarding oneself
  • Serbo-Croatian: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Sicilian: autu- — regarding oneself
  • Slovak: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Slovene: avto- — regarding oneself
  • Spanish: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Swedish: auto- — regarding oneself
  • Swedish: själv- — regarding oneself
  • Tagalog: awto- — regarding oneself
  • Tagalog: sari- — regarding oneself
  • Tagalog: saril- — regarding oneself
  • Tajik: авто- (avto-) — regarding oneself
  • Turkish: oto- — regarding oneself
  • Turkmen: awto- — regarding oneself
  • Ukrainian: авто- (avto-) — regarding oneself
  • Uzbek: avto- — regarding oneself
  • Yiddish: אויטאָ־ (oyto-) — regarding oneself
  • Armenian: ինքն (inkʻn) — automatic
  • Bulgarian: авто- (avto-) — automatic
  • Czech: samo- — automatic
  • Danish: auto- — automatic
  • Finnish: auto- — automatic
  • Finnish: automaatti- — automatic
  • Finnish: automaattinen — automatic
  • French: auto- — automatic
  • Greek: αυτο- (afto-) — automatic
  • Ido: auto- — automatic
  • Italian: auto- — automatic
  • Korean: 자동 (jadong) — automatic
  • Norwegian Bokmål: auto- — automatic
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: auto- — automatic
  • Polish: auto- — automatic
  • Polish: samo- — automatic
  • Portuguese: auto- — automatic
  • Russian: авто- (avto-) — automatic
  • Serbo-Croatian: ауто- — automatic
  • Serbo-Croatian: auto- — automatic
  • Armenian: ավտո- (avto-) — relating to cars or the driving of cars
  • Bulgarian: авто- (avto-) — relating to cars or the driving of cars
  • Finnish: auto- — relating to cars or the driving of cars
  • French: auto- — relating to cars or the driving of cars
  • Greek: αυτο- (afto-) — relating to cars or the driving of cars
  • Italian: auto- — relating to cars or the driving of cars
  • Norwegian: auto- — relating to cars or the driving of cars
  • Polish: auto- — relating to cars or the driving of cars
  • Polish: samo- — relating to cars or the driving of cars
  • Portuguese: auto- — relating to cars or the driving of cars
  • Russian: авто- (avto-) — relating to cars or the driving of cars
  • Serbo-Croatian: ауто- — relating to cars or the driving of cars
  • Serbo-Croatian: auto- — relating to cars or the driving of cars